Stronger
by SapphireMoon4
Summary: Ludwig is sick, and Feliciano and Gilbert are teaming up to help him. But when Ludwig winds up in the hospital due to his illness, Feli feels as if his life is falling apart—until he meets an unexpected hospital guest who shares the same fears. But this doesn't prepare anyone for the medical scare that occurs after Ludwig gets home... (SickFic. Rated T because I'm paranoid.)


Feliciano's eyes flutter open, glancing around him. Lovino was sleeping in another room, Gilbert was up, but hasn't been up for too long, and Ludwig was still asleep beside him.

Wait, back up there, he thinks, surprised. He turns back to Ludwig, blinking, wondering if it was really true. Yes, he's asleep!

Immediately, Feliciano reaches for his phone excitedly. He had to text Kiku.

... ... ...

pasta1861~ japan, guess what! I woke up b4 germany again!

pasta1861~ japan? u there?

Sushi-San3 Um, congrats, Italy-kun? I shall celebrate by cooking steamed rice and coffee for breakfast

pasta1861~ :D

Sushi-San3 I have nothing else to say...see ya later

... ... ...

Still smiling, Feliciano puts his phone down just as a noise fills the room. Ludwig moans, drawing Feliciano's attention.

"Ludwig? Are you OK?" Feliciano says, concerned for his friend. As he speaks, Ludwig's blue eyes open, grimacing.

"I-I'm fine, Italy. Just that my stomach kinda hurts, is all," he explains, which seems to satisfy Feliciano. He goes back to messing around on his phone, gaming and laughing at funny pictures.

The truth was (which he would never admit, especially to Feliciano), Ludwig felt absolutely awful. His lower right abdomen felt like there was a small hole in it, and his stomach hurt a little—but nothing like his abdomen. He was a bit hot and feverish too.

After a few minutes of pain (from Ludwig), Feliciano gets up to make breakfast,

leaving Ludwig in his bed with his thoughts. The pain had started last night, around bedtime. It hadn't been too bad, but it has blossomed to something worse overnight.

Oh well, Ludwig thought, shrugging. It's probably the stomach flu. It was flu season, after all, and he had been too busy to get a vaccine. He gets out of bed, thinking that maybe breakfast would be better.

He throws on his military uniform—which consists of an olive green shirt with a Knight's Cross, matching pants, a sturdy belt, and a pair of dark brown boots—and goes downstairs, where he finds Lovino and Gilbert sitting in the living room. Gilbert greets him with a "Guten morgen, West", but Lovino just glares at him. (He hates Ludwig).

They glower at each other for a few minutes, until Lovino finally says "Ludwig, you're such a—"

"Not the time for it, Lo," Gilbert snaps, which makes Lovino sink down in his chair, smoldering. Gilbert tries to give Ludwig a reassuring smile, but receives a half-smile, half-grimace from his brother. What's up with him? he wonders.

"Hey, West, are you OK? You look a little, uh, sick," Gilbert asks.

Ludwig gives his brother a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. My stomach just is a little, ah, sore." He flashes another smile at him, feeling crummy inside. A spasm of pain shoots through his abdomen, which makes him wince, but luckily Gilbert has turned around by then.

After a few minutes of pain spasms and worried glances from Gilbert, Feliciano comes in, smiling cheerfully. "Breakfast is ready, guys!" he says.

"Oh, yay," says Lovino unenthusiastically. "What is it today?"

"Coffee, rolls, and jams for us, and sausages and breakfast potatoes for Ludwig and Gilbert," says Feliciano, giving Ludwig a kind look. He must have noticed West's odd behavior, Gilbert thinks. He decides to pull Feliciano aside as they enter the kitchen.

"Yo, Italy-chan, have you noticed that West's been acting weird this morning?" he asks,

which Feliciano finds kind of cute, actually. He's genuinely concerned for his brother.

Reminds me of me that time Romano broke his wrist and I was so scared for him, he recalls.

"Huh? Yeah, he was moaning a little this morning. I asked him if he was OK, but he

said he was fine, so..." Feliciano responds.

Gilbert playfully punches him in the arm. "Stop being so gullible! West is obviously sick, but he won't admit it." He sighs unhappily. Ludwig had been ill before, but he had always admitted it eventually. It was probably the stomach flu. Besides, he hadn't been vaccinated for it this year.

"Earth to Gilbert! Let's go join the others!" he hears Feliciano, obviously right over his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," he says, going to join Lovino and Ludwig at the table. Even in his crummy mood, he has to smile at the delicious smell of sausages and potatoes. He sits down at the table, smiling at Ludwig, who returns the smile. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Ludwig was just being overdramatic.

Wait, never mind. As the plate of food is slid in front of Gilbert, he caught a glimpse of a wince from Ludwig. He assumed he wasn't being dramatic. Luckily, he could drown his sorrows in his breakfast.

"So! There's a world meeting today!" Feliciano says, in an attempt to spark conversation. He had noticed the tension in the air.

Normally Gilbert liked world meetings, but with Ludwig being sick, today it was the last place he wanted to be. If something were to happen to him, and if the other countries became so petrified with fear...Gilbert would never forgive himself.

But knowing that Feliciano wouldn't want to hear something like that, he instead says "Already? Well, this will be an interesting day!" with a smile on his face.

As Feliciano babbles on and on about the meeting, Gilbert glances at Ludwig. He's eaten some, but his face is kinda twisted in pain.

Gilbert sighs, shoveling a forkful of potatoes in his mouth. He and Feliciano will, no doubt, have to take care of Ludwig for a few hours, and possibly days. And then there was the awful thought of Ludwig's illness getting even worse...

One thing was for sure: it was bound to be an interesting few days—or maybe even weeks—for the Beilschmidt/Vargas household.

 **A/N: So, y'all, here we go. My first Hetalia fanfiction. Woohoo ;3**

 **What did you think of this chapter? I tried to make the characterizations correct, but I wrote this back in December, when I was a Hetalia noob. So they most likely aren't 100% correct.**

 **(Also, it's kinda obvious what Lud's illness is, but you'll have to read to find out for sure ;3)**

 **Remember to read and review! Or follow and favorite. Or read and enjoy. Again, whatever works for you XD**

 **~SapphireMoon4**


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